Freight-car.



J. W. SWARTZ. FREIGHT GAB. APPLIOATION r'ILED 0013.112, mo.

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Patented .12111;1'211911.`

J. W. SWARTZ. FREIGHT GAR. APBLGATION FILED 00T. 12, 1910.

982,024. Patented Jan.1v,1911.

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INVENTOR WITNESSES Rs co., wAsmNoruN n c JOHN W. SWARTZ, 0F EAST LIVERPOOL, OHIO.

FREIGHT-CAR.

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Application filed October 12, 1910. Serial No.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 17, 1911. 586,725.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. SWARTZ, citizen of the United States of America, residing at East Liverpool, in the county of Columbiana and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Freight-Cars, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to freight cars, and the primary object of the invention is to furnish a freight car with collapsible and shiftable partitions arranged in a manner as will be hereinafter set forth whereby the partitions can be stored in the car when not in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple and effective means for dividing a car into a plurality of compartments, each of which can be closed and locked, whereby the compartments can be packed with'merchandise for various destinations without the merchandise of one compartment being tampered with during the removal of merchandise from another compartment.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a car that can be advantageously used for transporting consignments of grain or other cereals, the car being divided whereby a consignment of wheat can be readily kept separate from a .consignment of oats without the employment of stationary partitions.

It is a well-known fact that in the shipment of grain from the West to the East that a large amount of lumber is used in the formation of partitions in grain cars, a large amountof the lumber being' discarded or stolen after the grain has reached its destination. It is in View of this waste of lumber, the expense of insta-lling partitions, that I have devised a shiftable partition that will always form a part of a car, the partitions being easily and quickly placed in position for use or in storage and means employed for locking the partitions in either position.

IVith the above and such other objects in view as may hereinafter appear the invention consists of the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically described and then claimed. Y

Reference will now be had to the drawings forming a part of this specification, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevation of the body of I a tion,

l the locks, and Fig. 4

a car partly broken away and partly in secshowing one of the partitions in position for use and another partition partly stored away. Fig. 2 is a plan of one of the roof beams of the car, showing' the partition locks. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of a car equipped with the partitions.

The number of the partitions used in connection'with the car depends upon the length of the car and the size of the compartments desired, and as an illustration I have shown a freight car with two partitions in each end thereof., and as the partitions and their supports are identical in construction, it is deemed only necessary to describe one of said partitions.

The inner smooth side walls l of the car are provided with oppositely disposed vertical channel bars 2 extending from the floor 3 of the car to the roof 4 thereof. Each channel bar has a flange 5 thereof cut, as at 6, and bent downwardly at right angles to provide a horizontal ledge 7, said ledge eX- tending from one of the channel bars to another channel bar upon the same side of the car, as bestV shown in F ig. 4, the ledge 7 having the end thereof suitably secured to the said channel bar. The channel bars 2 provide guides and supports for av sectional partition, consisting' of sections 8 preferably made of wood. Each of the sections 8 are of a less depth than the distance between the ledges 7 and the roof 4 of the car, whereby the sections 8 when not in use can be stored upon the ledges 7, in a superimposed position. The amount of the space above the ledges 7 permits of the uppermost partition section being shifted into the channel bars1 the uppermost section that was in storage occupying the lowermost position in the channel bars 2, resting upon the floor 3. With this section in position merchandise can be easily placed in the compartment and after it has reached the height'of the first section upon the floor, another section can be shifted from off of the ledges 7 onto the upper edge of the floor section, additional merchandise placed in t-he compartment and the operation continued until all the sections have been assembled in a vertical form.

To lock the sections of each partition either in a set-up form or a knocked down form when in storage, the roof beam 9 of the car is provided with staples or eyelets 10 serving functionally as supports and guides for slidable rods 11, a rod being provided for each partition. One end of each rod is bent at right angles, as at 12, and the opposite end thereof provided with an eye 13. The eye 13 is adapted to register with an eye or staple 14 whereby it can be locked either in position to hold the uppermost section of the partition in a set-up position or to hold the sections of the partition in a knocked down position upon the ledges 7. A seal 15 or an ordinary padlock can be placed in engagement with the eyes 13 and the staples 14 for securing the locking rods 11 in position.

lith the sections of the partition in a set-up form, the angular end 12 of the locking rod can be shifted behind the uppermost section of the partition to hold the same against the channel bars 2 and thereby prevent a compartment from being entered without breaking the seal 15. This is best seen in Fig. 1 of the drawings where the compartment A is closed and the uppermost section 8 of the aartition held by the angular end 12 of the locking` rod 11. In this figure of the drawings the compartment B has the lowermost section 8 in position to retain merchandise C in the compartment, and the other sections S are retained upon the ledges 7 by the angular end 12 of another locking bar. The locking bars are made of a sutlicient length whereby they can be locked to the roof beam 9 approximately central of the car, and it is apparent that some judgment must be used when packing the car in order that one compartment will not have to be disturbed to reach the other compartment. For instance if matter is shipped from San Francisco to Chicago and New York, the Chicago consignment must occupy the compartment B, whereby it can be unloaded without disturbing the consignment for New York contained within the compartment A.

From the foregoing it will be observed that I have devised a car construction that can be advantageously used by large pottery concerns in the shipment of pottery ware and matter of a fragile nature, the construction of the car permitting of the various compartments thereof being thoroughly packed whereby the ware can be transported with safety.

It is thought that the construction and utility of the car will be apparent without further description, and while in the drawings there is illustrated a preferred embodi ment of the invention, it is to be understood that the structural elements thereof are susceptible to such changes as fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

Vhat I claim, is:

1. In a freight car, oppositely disposed channel bars carried by the inner walls of the car, each channel bar having a flange thereof out and bent to provide a ledge eX- tending from one channel bar to the other channel bar upon the same side of the car, sectional partitions arranged upon said ledges and adapted to be shifted into said channel bars, and means carried by the roof beam of the car and adapted to lock said sectional partitions in adjusted position.

2. In a freight car, sectional partitions adapted to be arranged transversely of said car either in a set-up position or a knocked down position, and means adjacent to the roof of said car and adapted to lock said partitions in either position.

3. In a freight car,

car either in a vertical posit-ion or in a superimposed position adjacent to the roof of said car, and means including slidable locking rods said car for locking said partitions either in a set-up or knocked down position.

4f. In a freight car, collapsible partitions,

means carried by the sides of said car for sectional partitions adapted to be arranged transversely of saidN arranged adjacent to the roof of Y retaining said collapsible partitions in a set- .c

up position, means carried'by the sides of said car for supporting said partitions in a collapsed position adjacent to the roof of said car, and means adjacent to the roof of said car and adapted to lock said partitions in either position.

5. In a freight car, collapsible partitions, means carried by the sides of said car for retaining said collapsible partitions in a setup position, means carried by the sides of said car for supporting said partitions in a collapsed position adjacent to the roof of said car, and means adjacent to the roof of said car and adapted to lock said partitions in either position, said means including slidable locking rods carried by the roof beam of a car and adapted to be locked thereto.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature H. P. MCCARRON, C. B. ProUTs. 

